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5 Mobile Apps for Nonprofits Perfect for Fundraising

Posted Thursday, August 21st, 2014 by
Verified Volunteers Staff

Image courtesy of onetoday.google.com

More Americans than ever before are using smartphones and tablets as their primary devices for accessing the Internet. According to the Pew Research Center, as of late 2013 63% of mobile phone users in the U.S. used their phone to go online. In this mobile-savvy world, it’s essential for nonprofit organizations to make the most of mobile technology to stay relevant to volunteers, achieve fundraising goals and increase social impact. In fact, last year a study by Artez Interactive found that fundraisers offering mobile options for donations raised more than twice the amount as those using just the web. With that in mind, we’re looking at several mobile apps for nonprofits aimed at bringing donors and causes together. Some of these are third-party apps you can partner with to raise funds for your cause, and others function as tools to help your organization manage fundraising events and communications.

5 Mobile Apps for Nonprofits

One Today – One Today is a project and mobile app created by Google that invites users to donate $1 a day to charity. The app features different nonprofit organizations or causes each day. Nonprofits can sign up and create projects for free. App users choose their favorite causes to support, make donations, and spread the word to their friends via social sharing. Google collects a 1.9% credit card fee on donations.

Check In for Good – This app works like Foursquare, but with an added fundraising element. Local businesses choose causes to support, and when a user checks in at one of these “donation hotspots,” the participating business makes a donation to the selected cause. It’s free for nonprofits to create a cause page on Check In for Good, and if you already have businesses in your community that support your organization, it’s a great partnership opportunity. The app collects a 3.8% fee on donations made, plus $0.15 per check-in for check-ins at businesses.

RAZ Mobile – Raz Mobile is not actually an app, but rather a mobile fundraising platform that allows nonprofits to create a mobile-optimized website and manage all aspects of the fundraising process. In addition to providing a way to collect donations, the platform provides social media sharing, sends automatic thank you messages to donors, gathers donor information, and offers analytics for monitoring activity. The platform costs $29/month to use, and Raz Mobile collects a donation processing fee of up to 5.9%.

JustGiving – This UK-based fundraiser management app allows anyone to create a page for a cause or organization and invite friends and supporters to donate to the cause. With the mobile app, you can monitor your fundraising pages, receive alerts when new donations come in, and share updates with your supporters. JustGiving charges a 5% fee on donations received, but the app itself is free and it is free to set up a fundraising page.

Instead – Instead encourages users to make small changes in their daily routine that result in a few dollars saved, and donate those extra funds to charity. For instance, instead of going to the coffee shop, brew your own coffee and donate $3 to a cause (chosen by the team at Instead). Nonprofits interested in partnering with Instead can email hello@instead.com. Instead takes a 5% cut of donations.

Is your organization making an effort to connect with supporters via mobile devices? What other apps or tools do you use to help with fundraising? Share your experiences in the comments below or join the conversation on Twitter.

Tom Kleinfounded Verified Volunteers and leads its mission to propel service organizations and nonprofits by empowering volunteers.Connect with Tom on LinkedIn or Google+.

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